Operating mechanism for elevators



March 10, 1936. w. JOHNSON 2,033,52

OPERATING MECHANISM FOR ELEVATORS Filed Oct. 19, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 10, 1936. W. JOHNSON 2,033,524

OPERATING MECHANISM FOR ELEVATORS Filed Oct. 19, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 C'ordroaer box.

Patented Mar. 10, 1936 STATES PATENT OFFICE 9 Claims.

This invention relates to an operating mechanism for elevators.

An object of the invention is the provision of a device which is operated in connection with the usual controller arm of an elevator for causing the elevator to stop so that the floor of the elevator will be aligned with the floors of the building.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device which is operated in connection with the usual controller arm of the elevator for stopping elevators at floor levels, thereby saving time and power and preventing accidents, the controller arm adapted to cause a roller to be shifted adjacent a plurality of inclined guides or cams adjacent the floor levels with manual means adapted to be actuated by the foot of the operator for causing the roller to be aligned with a guide when it is desired to stop the elevator at particular floor, whereby the roller will move either down on the guide or upwardly against the guide for reciprocating a rod which Will cause rocking of the controller arm to the usual stop position.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a device for stopping elevators at exact floor levels in which a rod is adapted to be shifted by the controller arm for causing a roller to be placed adjacent any one of a plurality of pairs of fixed inclined guides or cams located adjacent the various floor levels with manual means for causing the rollers at will to be placed in alignment with one of a pair of the cams so that when the roller is moved downwardly or upwardly it will engage the cam, causing shifting of the rod and rocking of the controller arm to stop position.

This invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description, in view of the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification; nevertheless, it is to be understood that the invention is not confined to the disclosure, being susceptible of such changes and modifications as define no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of the operating mechanism for an elevator,

Figure 2 is a fragmentary View with the elevator in section showing my invention applied thereto,

Figure 2 is a detail view of a pair of the inclined guides which are affixed to the elevator shaft adjacent to a door opening at a landing,

Figure 3 is a view in elevation showing more or less diagrammatically the positions of the various parts for stopping an elevator on the downward movement of the same,

Figure 4 is a similar view showing the position of certain stopping elements for the elevator when the elevator is about to ascend to the next succeeding floor,

Figure 5 is a similar view showing the position of the operating parts when the elevator has been stopped during ascent of the elevator,

Figure 6 is a horizontal section taken along the line 66 of Figure 1,

Figure '7 is an enlarged fragmentary section showing the mechanism in a position for stopping the elevator,

Figure 8 is 'a vertical section taken along the line 88 of Figure 1,

Figure 9 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section similar to Fig. 8 showing the roller in an operative position,

Figure 10 is a fragmentary vertical section taken along the line Ill-Ill of Figure 7,

Figure 11 is a rear view in elevation of the operating mechanism,

Figure 12 is a horizontal section taken along the line l2-|2 of Figure 9, and

Figure 13 is a fragmentary view in elevation of a modified form associated with the controller arm.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 2, l5 designates an elevator shaft in which an elevator, generally designated by the numeral I6, is adapted to move. An opening, generally designated by the numeral I9, is adapted to indicate a door in the wall of the elevator shaft.

A gate is adapted to close an opening 2| forming a door which is adapted to be aligned with the opening I9 of the shaft and when the bottom 22 of the elevator I6 is aligned with the level of the floor where the elevator has been stopped.

A controller arm 25 which is of the usual type, i. e., in. the form of a crank, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6, is connected to a shaft 26 which extends into a controller box 21 for regulating the direction of rotation and speed of a motor that drives the elevator. The elevator may be electrically or hydraulically driven.

The arm is provided with a crank handle 30 which is adapted to be received within an arcuately-shaped slot 3| formed in a lever 32 which is loosely mounted on the shaft 26. This lever includes a segmental gear 33 adapted to mesh with the teeth of a rack 34 formed on a rod 35.

Rocking of the lever 32 will cause reciprocation of the rod 35 while reciprocation of said rod will cause rocking of the lever.

It will be noted that the crank handle 30 is adapted to be moved from stop position to down position thence back to stop position whence the handle may be moved to the up position and then to the stop position. During the movement of the handle from "down position to the stop position it will be noted that the lever 32 remains stationary since the handle moves through an arc of 90 and therefore moves from one end 36 of the slot to the opposite end 31 of the slot.

The mechanism just described is mounted upon the wall 38 of the elevator cage l6.

The rod 35 is mounted in bearings 40 and 4| secured in any approved manner to a base plate 42. The plate 42 as shown at 43 is bolted to the outer face of the side wall 38 of the cage l6 and the cage at this point is provided with an opening 44.

Bearings 45 and 46 in the form of blocks are secured to the outer face of the plate 42 and are adapted to slidably receive a rod 41. A second rod 48 is carried by links 49 and these links are secured to the rod 41. Thus it will be seen that when the rod 41 is shifted in a manner to be presently described the rod 48 will likewise be shifted or reciprocated.

A yoke, generally designated by the numeral 58, is provided with arms 5| which extend upwardly and are connected together at their upper ends by a rod 52. The outer ends of the arms 5| are provided with toggle links 53 which receive the rod 48. The lower end of the yoke, as shown at 54, is pivotally connected to a plunger 55 slidably mounted in bearings 56 carried by a bracket 51 which is secured to the wall 38 of the cage l8. Each of the outer ends of the arms 5| is pivotally connected at 59 to a toggle link 60 which has a fixed pivot point 6| upon ears 62.

The toggle links 53 are also pivoted on the pins 59. It will be noted from Fig. 12 that the toggle link 60 has a flange 60 to receive the pin 59 and the toggle link 53 has a flange 53 positioned in an opposite direction also receiving the pin 59. The outer end of the toggle link 53 where it is received by the shaft 48 is forked to receive a hook 63.

Each of the blocks 45 and 46 is provided with a curved seat or hook 63 adapted to receive the rod 48 for a purpose which will be presently ex plained.

An axle 64 which is secured to the rod 48 is provided with a roller 65 at its outer end.

An arm 10 is provided with a sleeve adapted to receive the rod 35 and is pinned to said sleeve as shown at 12.

The outer end of the arm 10 is provided with a fork 13 which embraces the rod 41 and is received within a cut-out portion 13 of a sleeve |4 formed at the upper end of a lever 14. This sleeve is secured to the rod 41 by a set screw 41. The fork I3 is cut away at 'H] to permit rocking of the shaft 41 and the sleeve l4 as shown in Fig. 10. The rocking movement of the lever 14, however, is limited to a small angle. A sleeve 15 is formed on the lower end of the lever 14 and is secured to the rod 48 by means of a set screw 16 which supports the roller 65 on the axle or extension 64. This extension is formed integrally with the sleeve 15.

A lever 11 is pivotally mounted at 18 on a block 19 carried by the floor 22 of the cage I6 and the lever is provided with a treadle 8| adapted to be engaged by the foot of the operator for depressing the treadle and a spring 82 is adapted to raise the treadle to a normal inoperative position. The opposite end 83 of the lever is located between the rollers 84 carried by the plunger 55 so that when the treadle 8| is depressed the end 83 will be elevated for raising the plunger.

A cam or inclined guide in the form of a flange of an angle iron 9| is secured to the side Wall of the elevator shaft |6 adjacent each floor and. in a position to be engaged by the roller 65 when said roller is moved to a path in alignment with said guides. This roller may be shifted so that it will engage the upper surface 92 of the cam or may engage the undersurface 93 of a similar cam or inclined guide 90 in a manner which will be presently explained. These cams are secured in pairs to the side wall of the shaft as shown in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 13 is shown a modified form of the device in which a rod 35 is pivotally connected at 95 with a rod or oscillating lever 96 having an elevated slot 91 at its inner end to receive the crank handle 30 of an arm 25. The down, stop, and up positions are indicated and these disclose the limits of movement of the crank handle 30 when the crank or arm 25 is moved manually or through the reciprocation of the rod 35 This rod is slidably mounted in bearings 40 and 4| and functions in the same manner as the rod 35.

The operation of my device is as follows: If the elevator has been stopped at one of the upper floors the crank handle 30 will be at the stop position. If it be desired to descend, the crank handle is moved to the down position shown in Fig. 1. The cage will then descend and if it be desired to stop at one of the lower floors the treadle 8| is depressed before the bottom of the cage l6 enters said floor. I

It will be appreciated, however, that the lever 32 is in the position shown in Fig. 1 so that the rack rod 35 has been moved to the right for positioning the roller 65 so that the roller will move in a vertical line at one side of the cams 90 and 90' and will not contact with these cams.

When the pedal is depressed the outer end 83 of said lever will be raised, raising plunger 55 and the yoke 50. As shown more particularly in Fig. 9 the toggle links 6|] will cause the links 53 to be moved outwardly and thereby carry the rod 48 outwardly where it will engage within the seats 63 of the blocks 46. The outward movement of the rod 48 will move the arm 14 outwardly and thereby place the roller 65 in position to engage the cam 90 adjacent the bottom of the floor.

When the roller engages the cam it will ride downwardly upon said cam, thereby causing the rod 35 to be moved in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3 whence the rack 34 being in engagement with the segmental gear 33 will rock said gear and therefore the lever 32 to the right hand position in said figure. Since the crank handle 30 is located within the slot 3| of the lever 32 the handle is carried up to the stop position and the elevator will be held against further movement.

When it is desired to descend further the foot of the operator is released from the treadle 8| whereby said treadle will be raised, causing the parts due to the spring 82 to resume their normal inoperative positions and the roller 65 will have been moved away from the cam 90. The crank handle 38 is then moved again to the down position and the elevator will descend until the operator desires to stop the car at a predetermined floor whence he will press upon the treadle 8| and the car will be stopped in the manner previously described.

When it is desired to start the cage on its ascent the handle is moved from the stop position shown in Fig, 3 to the up position shown in Fig. 4. In order to stop the car on its ascent at a predetermined floor the treadle 8! is then depressed whereby the roller 65, which is in the inner position, due to the inner position of the rack rod 35, will be forced into position to engage the undersurface 93 of the cam 90 so that as the car continues upwardly the roller will ride upwardly on the inclined surface 93 of the cam, causing the rack bar 35 to be moved to the right while causing the lever 32 to oscillate in the opposite direction and the crank handle 30 to move automatically to the stop position shown in Fig. 3. The car is then brought to a stop. No manual oscillation of the lever 32 is required for bringing the car to a stop since the proper positioning of the roller 65 is controlled by the treadle M.

It will be seen by this construction that whether the car is descending or ascending the treadle 8| must be depressed for properly positioning the roller above or beneath the cam 90 or cam 90 respectively, for causing the shifting of the rack bar 35 whereby the crank handle will be rocked by the operation of the lever 32. Manual operation of the crank handle 30 from up position to stop as shown in Fig. 4 will not cause rocking of the lever 32. The rocking of the crank handle in the slot 31 in Fig. between the stop and down position will not cause manual rocking of the lever 32. On the other hand, if the car has been sent on a downward movement and then is changed to an upward movement the lever 32 is naturally rocked since the crank handle is then at one end of the slot and will move the lever from the down position to the up position or vice versa.

The device shown in Fig. 13 operates substantially in the same manner as the device shown in Figs. 1 to 12, inclusive, except that the movement of the rod 35 a is opposite to the direction of movement of the rod 35 for the up and down movement. Therefore, the cams 90 or 90 must necessarily be reversed so that the upper end of said cams, which are shown in Figs. 3 and 5, will be to the left while the lower ends will be to the right.

It will be understood that by this construction the car can be brought to a standstill with the floor 22 in alignment with any of the floors of the building. The lever 11, however, must be operated for the purpose of shifting the roller 65 to a position where it will engage with a respective cam 90 or 90 near the floor.

A cable, shown at M, is adapted to suspend the car or cage I6 in the shaft I5 and the motors (not shown) are placed either at the topor bottom of the building for pulling or releasing the cable and these motors are controlled by the controller arm in a well known manner.

The ends 36 and 3'! of the slot 3! (Fig. 1) and the ends of the slot 91 are substantially stops or lugs which are adapted to engage the crank handle 33 for limiting the independent movement of said crank handle so that when the crank handle continues movement in either direction from the stop position and when said crank handle is in engagement with one of these stops or lugs the rockable member 32 will be moved simultaneously with the crank handle. On the other hand when the rockable member is moved beyond the limits of movement of the crank handles 36 in the slot 3! the crank handle will be carried through an angle of approximately 90 from the stop position to the down position or from the stop position to the up position.

This is also true of the modified form shown in Fig. 13. In this case the crank handle 30 will rock upand down from the horizontal plane passing through the centers of the up and down positions of the crank handle due to the pivoting of the member 96 at 95 on the rod 35 The rod 48 when shifted by the lever I4 into engagement with the seat 63 will be held in such position against return movement since the toggle links 53 and 60 are in substantially a straight line so that the lever will be locked in position. However, down pull on the pivot pins 59 by the arms 5| will break this locking position and rock the lever 74 to its normal inoperative position.

I claim:

1. An operating mechanism for elevators comprising a controller arm, a movable member having a slot adapted to receive said arm, a slidably mounted rod, means operatively connecting the rod and movable member, an inclined cam secured adjacent each floor of a building, a roller carried by the rod, said movable member adapted to be actuated by the controller arm for causing the rod to move the roller adjacent the cams and manual means for moving the roller into alignment with a cam so that when the elevator is raised or lowered the roller will engage a cam causing the rod to be reciprocated whereby the arm will be rocked to the stop position for the elevator.

2. An operating mechanism for elevators comprising a controller arm, a plurality of cams, a cam being placed adjacent each floor of a building, a roller carried by the el vator and adapted to be engaged by a cam, means operatively connected between the roller and the arm so that when the arm is rocked the roller will be shifted to a position adjacent a cam and manual means for moving the roller into a position where said roller will be engaged by the cam for shifting the roller and connecting means and for rocking the arm to stop position.

3. An operating mechanism for elevatorscomprising a controller arm, a movable member having a slot and adapted to receive said arm, a slidab-ly mounted rod, means operatively connecting the rod and movable member, a pair of inclined fixed cams secured adjacent each floor of a building, a roller carried by the rod, manual means for moving the roller to a position where it will engage one of the inclined cams for shifting the rod and causing the movable member to rock the controller arm.

4. An operating mechanism for elevators comprising a controller arm, a plurality of fixed inclined cams, a cam placed adjacent each floor of a building, a roller carried by the elevator and adapted to be positioned to engage either face of the inclined cam, means for causing the roller to be positioned in engaging relation with a face of a cam, a movable member having a slot, means on the controller arm received by the slot, a rod carrying the roller and operatively connected with the movable member so that when the roller engages a cam said roller and attached rod is shifted laterally causing the means on the controller arm to engage one end of the slot and move said controller arm to stop position.

5. An operating mechanism for an elevator comprising a controller arm, a plurality of fixed inclined cams, a cam placed adjacent each floor of a building, a roller adapted to be positioned to engage either face of the inclined cam, means for placing the roller into cam-engaging position, said means including a slidably mounted rod, a lever connected to said rod and carrying the roller, manual means for swinging the lever outwardly so that the roller will engage a cam and be moved laterally by said cam, a second rod having a loose connection with the controller arm and connected with the first-mentioned rod adapted to be shifted laterally when the roller is moved for causing rocking of the controller arm to stop position.

6. An operating mechanism for an elevator comprising a controller arm, a movable member, means for loosely connecting said member with the arm so that either the arm or member may be moved independently of the other or be moved simultaneously therewith, a slidably mounted rod connected to the movable member, a plurality of fixed cams, a cam being disposed adjacent each floor of a building, a shiftable means connected with the rod and movable with the elevator and adapted to be projected into aligning engagement with a cam, manual means for projecting said shiftable means, the cams causing shifting of the shiftable means and the rod and actuation of the movable means so that the movable means will rock the arm to stop position for the elevator.

'7. An operating mechanism for an elevator comprising a controller arm, a movable member, means for loosely connecting said member with the arm so that either the arm or member may be moved independently of the other or be moved simultaneously therewith, a slidably mounted rod connected to the movable member, a plurality of fixed cams, a cam being disposed adjacent each floor of a building, a shiftable means connected with the rod and movable with the elevator and adapted to be projected into aligning engagement with a cam, manual means for projecting said shiftable means, the cams causing shifting of the shiftable means and the rod and actuation of the movable means so that the movable means will rock the arm to stop position for the elevator, the loosely connecting means including spaced stops on the movable member and a crank handle on the arm.

8. An operating mechanism for an elevator comprising a controller arm, a movable member, interlocking means between the movable member and the controller arm whereby said movable member and controller arm may be moved independently of each other but at times the controller arm and movable member may move each other, a slidably mounted rod connected to the movable member, a plurality of fixed cams, the cam being disposed adjacent each floor of a building, a roller connected with the rod and adapted to be shifted with the rod and also adapted to shift the rod when engaged by a cam, means for swingably supporting the roller whereby said roller may be moved into position where it will engage a cam, and means for swinging the roller into an operative position, said cams causing shifting of the roller and rod for causing the movable means to move the controller arm to stop position for the elevator.

9. An operating mechanism for an elevator comprising a controller arm, a movable member, interlocking means between the movable member and the controller arm whereby said movable member and controller arm may be moved independently of each other but at times the controller arm and movable member may move each other, a slidably mounted rod connected to the movable member, a plurality of fixed cams, the cam being disposed adjacent each floor of a building, a roller connected with the rod and adapted to be shifted with the rod and also adapted to shift the rod when engaged by a cam, means for swingably supporting the roller whereby said roller may be moved into position where it will engage a cam, means for swinging the roller into an operative position, said cams causing shifting of the roller and rod for causing the movable means to move the controller arm to stop position for the elevator, the cam having oppositely disposed inclined faces adapted to be engaged by the roller, one of faces being engaged by the roller on the descent of the elevator while the other face being engaged with the roller upon ascent.

WARREN JOHNSON. 

